New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for police officers, firefighters, and other municipal workforce employees.
Starting Wednesday and ending Oct. 29, city employees will have an extra $500 added to their paychecks for receiving their first shot at a city-operated vaccination site. Employees who remain unvaccinated, meanwhile, will be placed on unpaid leave.
In a statement, de Blasio said enacting the latest mandate—which joins last month’s mandate for Department of Education and NYC Health and Hospitals workers—is part of the responsibility that comes with the job of being mayor.
“We have led the way against COVID-19—from fighting for the right to vaccinate frontline workers, to providing nation-leading incentives, to creating the Key to NYC mandate,” he said Wednesday. “As we continue our recovery for all of us, city workers have been a daily inspiration. Now is the time for them to show their city the path out of this pandemic once and for all.”
While the mandate is effective Nov. 1 for the vast majority of workers, as noted by the Associated Press, jailers on Rikers Island will be subject to the mandate on Dec. 1.
Whether you’re in NYC or not, it’s always worth pointing out in articles of this nature that the vaccine is indeed safe and effective (and free). If you still haven’t been vaccinated ahead of an expected expansion of the booster rollout, click here to remedy that.
